News


Iraq/Kurdistan: Could Baghdad and Erbil End Iraq's Protacted Oil Dispute?

Jul 28, 2019 | Agence France-Presse

Iraq's federal authorities and the cash-strapped Kurdish regional government (KRG) have relaunched talks over longstanding oil and budget disputes, but observers are sceptical they will…


South Sudan: South Sudan Tries to Protect Wildlife after Long Conflict

Jul 27, 2019 | Sam Mednick, Associated Press

South Sudan is trying to rebuild its six national parks and 13 game reserves, which cover more than 13% of the country’s terrain, following the…


Myanmar: At Least 25 Dead after Myanmar Land Dispute

Jul 27, 2019 | Dhaka Tribune

At least 25 people died when a land dispute in Myanmar turned violent this week, a regional MP said Friday, as details were still emerging…


Myanmar: Police Investigate after 38 Feared Dead Following Violent Myanmar Land Dispute

Jul 27, 2019 | Mizzima

At least 25 people died following violence this week, a shocked regional MP said Friday at a press conference in Magway, as details were still…


Sound Environmental Governance Key to Maximizing Potential of Horn of Africa Detente

Jul 26, 2019 | Inger Andersen

The Horn of Africa today faces increased threats to its people’s security in the form of natural disasters linked to climate change. But as old…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Orders ‘Immediate Withdrawal’ of Chinese Ships as Tensions Soar

Jul 26, 2019 | Luke Hawker, Express

Hanoi has pressed ahead its work on an oil rig on the Vanguard bank, despite an increased military presence by Beijing in the Taiwan strait.…


Nigeria: Insecurity: Nigeria Loses $14bn Annually to Farmers-Herders’ Clashes – Fayemi

Jul 26, 2019 | Rotimi Ojomoyela, Vanguard

Governer Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, yesterday, lamented that Nigeria loses $14 billion annually to farmer-herder clashes, saying it may affect the country’s ability to…


Afghanistan: Ministry of Mines and Petroleum Launches Campaign to Stop Illegal Extraction of Mineral Resources

Jul 26, 2019 | Library of Congress

On June 19, 2019, Afghanistan’s Acting Minister of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MOMP), Narges Nehan, announced that the Ministry had begun a country-wide…


East African Policy Makers Advocate for Gender in Climate Policy

Jul 26, 2019 | Mary Nyasimi, Dana Elhassan and Faith Gikunda

Policy makers from nine East African countries pledge to lobby governments and policy influencers to consider gender mainstreaming in national climate change policies.


Iraqi Kurdistan's Energy Reserves: Investor's Paradise or Poisoned Chalice?

Jul 25, 2019 | Energy Reporters

When Masrour Barzani, who recently became the prime minister of semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, named long-serving Iraqi Kurdish natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami his deputy prime minister…


South Africa: Sweeping the Bush, Protecting the Land - The Women Quashing Poaching

Jul 25, 2019 | UNEP

The black mamba is the most venomous snake in sub-Saharan Africa. One bite can kill a person in just a few hours. It is also…


Climate, Conflict and Gender

Jul 25, 2019 | OSCE

Mary Robinson, founder of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Change and chair of The Elders, the group of global leaders established by Nelson Mandela,…


DRC: $3.7m Fund to Help End Illegal Mining in Congo

Jul 25, 2019 | Kennedy Senelwa, East African

Armed actors in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s artisanal mining have been dealt a blow with the release of $3.7 million funding by the United…


South Sudan: South Sudan Will Launch Petroleum Licensing Round, Environmental Audit

Jul 25, 2019 | Africa Oil & Power

South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum Hon. Awow Daniel Chuang will announce South Sudan’s 2020 oil and gas licensing round at two strategic conferences this October:…


Myanmar: Locals Demand Return of Land Taken for Coffee Project

Jul 25, 2019 | Khin Su Wai, Myanmar Times

Officials have so far ignored an appeal by farmers to return land appropriated for a coffee-planting project in Phaung Taw Sanpya village, Pyin Oo Lwin township,…


Liberia: WOMSUD Launches Women’s Participation in Country’s Natural Resources

Jul 25, 2019 | Hannah N. Geterminah, Observer

Women Movement for Sustainable Development (WOMUD) on Tuesday, July 23, 2019, launched the Women’s Participation in the Natural Resources Sectors Report under the title, “Strengthening…


Zimbabwe: War Vets Confront Minister over Land Grab

Jul 24, 2019 | New Zimbabwe

War veterans here have called to order Provincial Affairs Minister Ezra Chadzamira for allegedly trying to remove the former freedom fighters from farms they forcibly…


South Sudan: South Sudan’s MoU with Ethiopia, Uganda for Power Transmission to Border Areas

Jul 24, 2019 | Devdiscourse

South Sudan is planning to implement bilateral agreements with Ethiopia and Uganda on the transmission of power to its border areas. The aim of agreement…


Myanmar: EITI Applied in Forestry Sector for the First Time

Jul 24, 2019 | Myat Moe Aung, Myanmar Times

Myanmar’s forestry sector was included in the Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (MEITI) report for the first time this year. Myanmar is the second country…


Bangladesh/Myanmar: Rohingya Refugees Regreen Deforested Land on Myanmar's Border

Jul 23, 2019 | Kaamil Ahmed, New Arab

Living off the land is natural for the Rohingya, who lived a predominantly agricultural life in Myanmar. Today, the UN estimates only around 400,000 Rohingya remain in…


Renewable Electrification in Geopolitical Contested Settings: Theoretical Insights and Practical Implications (Call for Papers for a Conference and a Special Issue)

Jul 23, 2019 | Geopolitics and Energy Research Group

The Geopolitics and Energy Research Group (GERG) will be holding an international conference on renewable electrification in geopolitical conflict settings from December 18 to 20,…


United Nations Compensation Panel Pays out $270M for Kuwait Oil Company

Jul 23, 2019 | New Indian Express

A United Nations panel that oversees compensation claims stemming from Iraq's 1990-1991 invasion of Kuwait says it has paid out $270 million to Kuwait's national…


Liberia: EPA, UNDP Seek to Reconcile Weaknesses in Environmental Policies, Legal Instruments

Jul 23, 2019 | FrontPage Africa

With funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Liberia Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on Tuesday, 23 July 2019…


Afghanistan: Three Land Grabbers Arrested in Logar

Jul 22, 2019 | Afghanistan Times

Afghan National Police in southern Logar province have arrested three land grabbers—a lucrative but black business where many powerful individuals have been involved in this…


Iraq: Revenue from Oil Price Rise Will Fund Reconstruction in Iraq, Oil Officials Say

Jul 22, 2019 | Hiwa Shilani, Kurdistan 24

As oil prices in Iraq become more stable, the cost of crude has gradually risen to nearly $70 per barrel for the first time in…


Iraq: Iraq Races to Save Last of Middle East's Forests from Burning

Jul 22, 2019 | Peter Schwartzstein, National Geographic

Iraq is on fire, and Aram Ismail has no idea how to stanch the flames. As a 12-year veteran of the Iraqi Kurdish forest police,…


What's in the New China-Vietnam South China Sea Tensions?

Jul 22, 2019 | Prashanth Parameswaran

Over the past few weeks, another round of tensions has been simmering between China and Vietnam over energy resources in the South China Sea. The…


Iraq: Water Crisis in Basra

Jul 22, 2019 | Human Rights Watch

Iraqi authorities have failed to ensure for almost 30 years that Basra residents have sufficient safe drinking water, resulting in on-going health concerns, Human Rights…


Myanmar: More Than 45,000 People Affected by First Monsoon Flood

Jul 22, 2019 | Myat Moe Aung, Myanmar Times

Flooding caused by the first monsoon of the season displaced more than 45,000 people, according to a statement issued by the United Nations Office for the…


Myanmar: Over 10,000 Tons of Illegal Timber Seized in Four Months

Jul 21, 2019 | Eleven

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation seized over 10,000 tons of illegal timber during four months of this fiscal year, with Sagaing Region topping…